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Tuesday

Louis Buisseret was Belgian painter, draftsman and engraver.
At the age of 16, Buisseret enrolled at the Art Academy of Bergen where he studied engraving and met Anto Carte, with whom he became friends. Later in life he was appointed a director of the Art Academy of Bergen, a position he had kept for 20 years.
In 1908, Buisseret started studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels under Jean Delville who had a major influence on Buisseret's later artistic work. In 1910, as a student Buisseret won the second prize in the Belgian Prix de Rome competition in painting and in 1911 he won first prize in the Prix de Rome competition in the engraving.

Portrait of Mary Louise McBride (Mrs Homer Saint-Gaudens), 1929

After the training was completed at the Brussels Academy, Buisseret and his father traveled to Italy to study the works of Italian artists of the Quattrocento and Cinquecento. During WWII Buisseret traveled to Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Buisseret mainly painted realistic portraits, nudes and still lifes. From 1920 Buisseret took an active part in leading salons and gallery exhibitions in Belgium. In 1922 he married Emilie Empain, the model that often sat for him.

Louis Buisseret, Lady with Parrot, 1923

In 1927 one of Buisseret's work was refused at the Salon of La Louviere due to an obscene character. His friend Anto Carte took over the defense of Buisseret and blamed the salon an immature attitude. This incident was the prelude to the establishment of the group of artists Nervia in 1928 by Buisseret, Carte and Leon Eeckman. The group gave support to promising young artists. In 1929, he was awarded the silver medal at the Salon of Barcelona. That same year he became director of the Art Academy of Bergen where he also gave lessons in painting.
In 1947, Buisseret became a member of the Royal Academy and in 1952, Buisseret was elevated to Commander of the Order of Leopold.
(wikipedia.nl)

Saturday

"... he paints remarkably French post-impressionist-looking scenes with an updated palette and sensibility. Images of women and men, alone and in groups appear moody and evocative of late nights and inner demons. Rumpled clothes, ruddy complexions and messy hair render Kobayashi's subjects intriguingly bohemian. His intimate portrayals are personal translations of what he has witnessed on city streets, in movies and at museums. There are plenty of (Japonisme) bright patterns to provide visual allure amongst these subtly dark depictions." (eisenhauergallery.com)

British art correspondent, Godfrey Barker wrote of Kobayashi, "Milt Kobayashi's compositions are wicked in their education, wicked in their skilful calculation and wickedly clever in their balance, their tonal contrasts and their negative space. In short, we're looking at an unusually professional and well-sourced artist, cultivated in a manner uncommon in the desert of Disney that is modern America. He's apart from his age and we need to see more of him!" (London Evening Standard) (eisenhauergallery.com)

Thursday

George Agnew Reid is best known as a genre painter.
His father was a farmer who came from Scotland at the age of twenty four to Weston, Ontario.
George was one of six children.
In 1879, he studied at the Central Ontario School of Art, Toronto, and later at the Pennsylvania Academy, at the Julian and the Colarossi Academies in Paris, the Prado in Madrid.
Later in life he was principal of the Central Ontario School of Art and Design.

Monday

Hugo von Habermann was born into a noble family and attended prestigious schools in Munich where his family settled in 1858. He started studying law but gave it up in order to take art classes. In 1879 Habermann opened his own studio.
In the 1900s he discovered the Spanish painter El Greco, which had an immediate and obvious effect on his style. (wikipedia)

Portrait of a young lady, 1889

This portrait of Irena Beran (1921) has an interesting story reported by The Telegraph in 2007:
"When the Nazis confiscated Rudolf Beran's family home in Czechoslovakia, he thought the beloved portrait of his mother would be lost for ever.
Now, almost 70 years later, the 94-year-old has been reunited with the painting.
Mr Beran moved to England in 1937 and went on to own a lighting store in Birmingham. The Nazis seized the family home in 1942 and his father, Phillip, was sent to a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, where he died.
Their possessions were also taken, including his mother Irena's portrait. It was painted in 1921 by the well-known Munich artist Hugo von Habermann and when a German enthusiast set up a Habermann website, Mr Beran's son donated a signed sketch of Irena.
Then in May last year, an official at a castle in Potsdam, Berlin, saw the original painting and contacted the website. It took two years for Mr Beran to reclaim it and it cost almost £1,000 to have it sent to him in Birmingham.
The painting was valued at more than £2,000 but Mr Beran said the sentimental value was priceless. "Once again, at the age of 94, I will have the pleasure of gazing at my mother's image over my own mantelpiece."

Saturday

David Larned, born in 1976 in New York City, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Florence Academy of Art. He has exhibited from New York to San Francisco. The artist focuses on both private and institutional commissioned portraiture. A recipient of many awards including repeat semi-finalist in the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait Competition, he lives and works with his wife, artist, Sarah Lamb and their daughter, near Philadelphia.